not limited, as you discover, is worry about the debt and the fiscal cliff. our program today, just briefly, others will talk, and we will give the polling results, and then a senior national journal member will have a panel discussion. it is a terrific day, i think. please turn these off. and, again, i welcome you. joan is the executive vice president of the country's largest insurance. you are in good hands with all state. joan has been a terrific partner. she is responsible of corporate relations for allstate. she did civil -- similar work with monsanto and others. she is a consummate marketing and communications strategist, which is what washington is all about, so thank you very much and welcome. [applause] >> ok. thank you. john, for that introduction. the national journal has been a terrific partner in supporting our work and the challenges that the american middle-class has been facing during this great recession, and i thank them for that. many thanks also to end, who will take us through the polling data to date -- many thanks take us through the po